Why the same stone order is cut differently in every market

Stone is not sold to a universal standard. An order leaving Xiamen for Lagos and an order leaving for Houston are usually cut differently — same material, same block, same week. Here is why, and how we handle it.

Thin tiles

Africa, Europe, Australia and the USA take light-format thin tiles: large volumes, light pieces, packed in carton inside a wooden crate. This is the format where packing discipline shows up fastest — a crate that arrives out of square was decided at the packing bench, not at the saw.

Cut-to-size

Cut-to-size is quoted off your drawing, not off a catalogue. Project sizes are measured as they come off the line, and anything we cannot hold is flagged before the block is cut rather than after the crate is closed.

Stair treads

Treads and risers are cut to the stair that is actually being built, so the drawing wins over any standard ladder. A ladder sized for one market will not lay on a staircase built for another — and the mistake only shows up on site, with the stone already on the ground.

Countertops

Kitchen tops are the clearest split between metric and imperial. A market that quotes in inches is not asking for a rounded metric equivalent. Send the template and the market, and the top is cut to that. Imperial sizes ordered from a metric-quoted supplier is where most of the confusion starts.

Pool coping

Wet-area coping is cut with the drip edge built into the profile rather than formed on site, and it is not polished. A polished face around a pool looks right in the photo and turns dangerous on the first wet morning.

Slabs, thick slabs and paving

Big slabs, rough slabs and thick sections are usually bought by buyers who process them further, so the finish and the final size are decided at your end. Kerbs, edging and cobbles are cut to the road or paving detail of the scheme they are going into.

Send the list

If your sizes are not on this page, that is normal — send them and we quote against your list. What we will not do is quietly cut to the size that suits us and let you find out at the port.